Local Affairs Amendments

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-50

LOC 50

Local Aid

Mr. Pacheco moved that the proposed new text be amended in Section 3 by striking out the figure "$833,980,293" and inserting in place thereof the figure "$898,980,293."

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-53

LOC 53

State Owned Land Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT)

Messrs. Moore and Pacheco moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 1233-2400, by striking out the figure “$25,270,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- “$27,270,000”.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-54

LOC 54

An Amendment Relative to Municipal Snow and Ice Circuit Breaker Funds

Mr. Knapik moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, by inserting the following new Section:-

XXXX-XXXX For distribution to cities and towns for snow and ice removal expenses on municipal ways during the fiscal year 2011; provided, that a city or town receiving funds under this item may reimburse school districts for snow and ice removal expenses; provided, further that 58.34 per cent of funds appropriated under this item shall be apportioned to each city or town proportionally based on the number of road miles as determined by the division of highways within the department of transportation; 20.83 per cent of funds appropriated under this item shall be apportioned to each city or town proportionally based on the population of the city or town as determined by the department of revenue; and 20.83 per cent of funds appropriated under this item shall be apportioned to each city or town proportionally based on the employment population in the city or town as determined by the executive office of labor and workforce development; provided, further that any funds received by a city or town in excess of its liability for snow and ice removal expenses shall be used for the construction and reconstruction of municipal ways as described in clause (b) of section 4 of chapter 6C of the General Laws ………………………………………………………………………...........................$25,000,000

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-55

LOC 55

REVERT LOCAL AID

Messrs. Tarr, Hedlund, Knapik, Ross and Richard T. Moore moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section __, the following new Section:-

“SECTION __. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any unexpended and unencumbered balances of appropriations on June 30, 2011 shall be distributed to cities and towns in accordance with the distribution of the balance of the State Lottery Fund, as stipulated in section 3 of this act; provided however, the distribution authorized herein shall be equal to $65,000,000; provided further, if the aggregate balances of appropriations is less than $65,000,000 on June 30, 2011, the amount of the distribution authorized herein shall be 100 per cent of the balances. The distribution authorized in this section shall be executed not later than October 31, 2011.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-56

LOC 56

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT

Messrs. Tarr, Knapik, Ross and Richard T. Moore moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section __, the following new Section:-

“SECTION __. Section 3 of chapter 44B of the General Laws is hereby amended in paragraph (e) by striking subsection (2) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(2) for $100,000 of the value of each taxable parcel of class three, commercial, and class four, industrial, property as defined in section 2A of said chapter 59.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-57

LOC 57

Foundation Budget Review Commission

Messrs. Ross, Tarr and Hedlund and Ms. Creem moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section ____, the following new Section:-

“ SECTION _____. Notwithstanding Section 4 of Chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, the foundation budget review commission shall be required to make specific recommendations as to the financial health and sustainability of the foundation budget calculation methodology.

The commission's recommendations, together with any proposed legislation, shall be filed not later than December 1, 2012 with the governor, and the clerks of the senate and the house of representative who shall refer such recommendations to the appropriate committee of the general court.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-58-R1

Redraft LOC 58

School Regionalization

Messrs. Wolf, Rodrigues and Eldridge moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 1599-0026, <w:p><w:r><w:t xml:space="preserve">by striking the words “ or transition costs related to regionalization and other efficiency initiatives, with allowable applicants to include municipalities,” and inserting in place thereof the following words: “transition costs related to regionalization and other efficiency initiatives, with allowable applicants to include municipalities, regional schools,”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-59

LOC 59

Foundation Budget

Mr. Ross moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, in section 3, by inserting after the third paragraph, the following:-

“Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for fiscal year 2012 the total amounts to be distributed and paid to each city and town from item 7061-0008 of section 2 shall be at a minimum 17.5 percent of their Foundation Budget; provided further, that said funds distributed shall be represented in a separate column on the cherry sheet produced by the department of revenue.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-60

LOC 60

Vocational School Funding

Ms. Donoghue moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section ___, the following new Section:-

SECTION ___. Section 6 of chapter 70 of the General Laws as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition is hereby amended by inserting in line 26 after the word “year” the following words:- “provided that said increase is not more than 10 percent from the previous fiscal year".

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-61

LOC 61

Providing for Capital Equipment Replacement in Vocational Education

Messrs. Knapik, Tarr and Ross moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section XXX the following new Section:-

SECTION 1. Chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the definition of “extraordinary maintenance allotment” in lines 131-135 and inserting in place thereof a new definition: -

“Extraordinary maintenance allotment,” the amount allotted within a district’s foundation budget for extraordinary maintenance costs and to provide for modernization and replacement of capital equipment in vocational schools in any fiscal year. The extraordinary maintenance allotment shall be two thousand, two hundred dollars multiplied by the sum of foundation teaching staff and the foundation support staff. The capital equipment replacement allotment shall be five hundred dollars multiplied by the foundation vocational enrollment.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-62

LOC 62

Affordable Housing Study

Messrs. Hedlund, Ross, Tarr and Knapik moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section xx the following new section:

SECTION XX: The Department of Housing and Community Development shall conduct a study comparing the benefits of using state subsidies for the construction of new affordable housing projects with the benefits associated with assisting municipalities in the purchase of foreclosed and vacant homes within the municipality’s boundaries. The comparison should be based upon the annual average amount of all subsidies issued by all state agencies, departments, offices and authorities for the construction of new affordable housing units between 2004 and 2009, and the number of affordable units created during that time period. For the purposes of this study, when compiling the number of affordable housing units created during this time period, the department may only include the number of units actually built, and may not include any market-rate units that are considered affordable for the purposes of a municipality’s Subsidized Housing Inventory index. The study shall compare the average subsidy cost per new affordable housing unit constructed with the number of housing units that could be created if the annual average amount of all subsidies was instead used to help municipalities purchase foreclosed and vacant homes.

Section 2: The department shall issue its final report by August, 31, 2013.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-63

LOC 63

Recouping Excess 40B Profits

Messrs. Hedlund, Ross, Tarr and Knapik moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section xx the following new section:

“SECTION XX. The Inspector General shall establish a special commission for the purpose of recovering all excess profits owed to host communities as outlined in MGL 40B. The Inspector General shall have the ability to convey to this commission all investigatory powers as outlined in MGL 12A, Section 9.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-65-R1

Redraft LOC 65

Municipal Health Reform

Ms. Clark moved that the proposed new text be amended by striking out section 51 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

“SECTION 51. Said chapter 32B is hereby further amended by adding the following 10 sections:-

Section 21. As used in this section and sections 22 to 24, inclusive, the word “savings” shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, mean the difference between the total projected premium costs for health insurance benefits provided by a political subdivision with changes to health insurance benefits that may be authorized under sections 22 or 23 for the first 12 months of such changes and the total projected premium costs for health insurance benefits provided by a political subdivision for the same 12 months without such changes.

(a) Any political subdivision electing to change health insurance benefits under sections 22 or 23 shall, each time the political subdivision elects to make changes under sections 22 or 23, do so in the following manner: in a county, except Worcester county, by a vote of the county commissioners; in a city having Plan D or a Plan E charter, by majority vote of the city council and approval by the manager; in any other city, by majority vote of the city council and approval by the mayor; in a town, by vote of the board of selectmen; in a regional school district, by vote of the regional district school committee; and in all other districts, by vote of the registered voters of the district at a district meeting.

(b) Prior to implementing any changes authorized under sections 22 or 23, the appropriate public authority shall give notice to its public employee committee of its intention to enter into negotiations to implement changes to its health insurance benefits under this section. If a public employee committee has not been established under section 19, a public employee committee shall be established exclusively to negotiate changes under this section, section 22 and section 23, and shall be established in the same form and with the same per cent votes as prescribed in the fifth paragraph of subsection (a) of said section 19. Any community which has previously established a public employee committee under section 19 may choose to apply this section and sections 22 and 23 when implementing changes to its health insurance benefits.

The notice shall detail the proposed changes, the appropriate public authority’s analysis and estimate of its anticipated savings of such changes and a proposal to mitigate, moderate or cap the impact of these changes for subscribers, including retirees, low-income subscribers and subscribers with high out-of-pocket health care costs, who would otherwise be disproportionately affected. If the public authority is proposing changes under section 23 by transferring subscribers to the commission, the public authority shall also submit an analysis that demonstrates that the anticipated savings under this change would be at least 10 per cent greater than the maximum possible savings under section 22.

(c) The negotiations shall be conducted in good faith and may include all aspects of the public authority’s proposal. The negotiations shall be completed not later than 30 days from the point at which the public employee committee receives the notice as provided in subsection (b). If after 30 days the appropriate public authority and public employee committee are unable to enter into a written agreement to implement changes under section 22 or 23, the matter shall be submitted to a municipal health insurance review panel. The panel shall be comprised of 3 members, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the public employee committee, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the public authority and 1 of whom shall be selected through the secretary of administration and finance who shall forward to the appropriate public authority and the public employee committee a list of 3 impartial potential members, each of whom shall have professional experience in dispute mediation and municipal finance or municipal health benefits, from which the appropriate public authority and the public employee committee may jointly select the third member; provided, however, that if the appropriate public authority and the public employee committee cannot agree within 3 business days upon which person to select as the third member of the panel, the secretary of administration and finance shall select the final member of the panel. Any fee or compensation provided to a member for service on the panel shall be shared equally between the public employee committee and the appropriate public authority.

(d) The municipal health insurance review panel shall approve the appropriate public authority’s immediate implementation of the proposed changes under section 22; provided, that any increased dollar amounts for co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments proposed for a non-medicare plan under section 22 do not exceed the dollar amounts of the median plan design features offered by the commission for a non-medicare plan under section 4 of chapter 32A; and provided further, that any increased dollar amounts for co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments proposed for a medicare-extension plan under section 22 do not exceed the dollar amounts of the median plan design features offered by the commission for a medicare-extension plan under section 10C and section 14 of chapter 32A.

(e) The municipal health insurance review panel shall approve the appropriate public authority’s immediate implementation of the proposed changes under section 23; provided, that the panel confirms that the anticipated savings under those changes would be at least 10 per cent greater than the maximum possible savings under section 22.

(f) If the panel does not approve implementation for reasons stated under subsections (d) or (e), the public authority may submit a new proposal to the public employee committee for consideration and confirmation under this section.

(g) Within 10 days of receiving proposed changes under sections 22 or 23, the municipal health insurance review panel shall:

(1) confirm, and revise if necessary,the appropriate public authority’s estimated monetary savings due to proposed changes under section 22 or 23; and

(2) review the proposal to mitigate, moderate or cap the impact of these changes for subscribers, including retirees, low-income subscribers and subscribers with high out-of-pocket health care costs, who would otherwise be disproportionately affected.

The municipal health insurance review panel may determine the proposal to be insufficient and may require additional savings to be shared with subscribers in the form of premium reductions, health reimbursement arrangements, wellness programs, health care trust funds for emergency medical care or inpatient hospital care, out-of-pocket caps, Medicare Part B reimbursements or reimbursements for other qualified medical expenses, as determined by the panel. In no case shall the municipal health insurance review panel designate more than 33 per cent of the savings to subscribers. In reaching a decision on the proposal under this subsection, the municipal health insurance review panel may consider an alternative proposal from the public employee committee to mitigate, moderate or cap the impact of these changes for subscribers, the political subdivision’s ability to pay, existing premium contribution ratios between the appropriate authority and the subscribers, intended use of savings by the political subdivision, any historical negotiations or concessions by retirees on benefits and the historical negotiations on benefits and salary including total compensation and all other evidence.

The municipal health insurance review panel’s decision shall be binding upon the parties.

(h) The secretary of administration and finance, in consultation with the secretary of labor and workforce development, shall adopt regulations to carry out this section.

Section 22. (a) Upon meeting the requirements of section 21, an appropriate public authority of a political subdivision which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers by acceptance of any other section of this chapter may increase, as part of the non-medicare health plans that it offers to its subscribers, co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments to a level no greater in dollar amount than the median co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments of non-medicare plans offered by the commission under section 4 of chapter 32A; and may increase, as part of the medicare-extension health plans that it offers to its subscribers, co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments to a level no greater in dollar amount than the median co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments of medicare-extension plans offered by the commission under section 10C of chapter 32A . A public authority shall meet the requirements of section 21 each time an increase is made to co-payments, deductibles or tiered provider network co-payments under this section.

(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an appropriate public authority from including in the political subdivision’s health plans higher co-payments, deductibles or tiered provider network co-payments or other plan design features than those authorized by subsection (a); provided, however, that such higher co-payments, deductibles, tiered provider network co-payments and other plan design features may be included only after the political subdivision has satisfied any bargaining obligations under chapter 150E or under section 19.

(c) Except as provided for in subsection (b), the decision to implement changes under this section shall not be subject to bargaining under chapter 150E or section 19.

(d) Nothing in this section shall relieve a political subdivision from providing health insurance coverage to a subscriber to whom it has an obligation to provide coverage under this chapter.

(e) The percentage contributed by retirees, surviving spouses and their dependents shall be no more than the average percentage contributed by other subscribers to the most expensive and least expensive non-Medicare plans offered by the public authority.

Section 23. (a) Upon meeting the requirements of section 21, an appropriate public authority of a political subdivision which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers may elect to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers by transferring its subscribers to the commission. The commission shall issue rules and regulations consistent with this section related to the process by which subscribers shall be transferred to the commission. Nothing in this section shall be construed to change eligibility standards for health insurance under the definition of “employee” in section 2. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude an appropriate public authority from reaching an agreement under subsection (e) of section 19.

(b) The decision to accept this section shall not be subject to bargaining under section 19 or chapter 150E.

(c) Nothing in this section shall relieve a political subdivision from providing health insurance coverage to a subscriber to whom it has an obligation to provide coverage under this chapter.

(d) An appropriate public authority, which has elected to transfer its subscribers under this section to the commission, shall notify the commission of such transfer. The notice shall be provided to the commission by the appropriate public authority on or before December 1 and the transfer of subscribers to the commission shall take effect on the following July 1. On the effective date of the transfer, the health insurance of all subscribers, including elderly governmental retirees previously governed by section 10B of chapter 32A and retired municipal teachers previously governed by section 12 of chapter 32A, shall be provided through the commission for all purposes and governed under this section. As of the effective date and for the duration of this transfer, subscribers transferred to the commission's health insurance coverage shall receive group health insurance benefits determined exclusively by the commission and the coverage shall not be subject to collective bargaining, except for contribution ratios.

Subscribers transferred to the commission who are eligible or become eligible for Medicare coverage shall transfer to Medicare coverage, as prescribed by the commission; provided, however, that the benefits under the plan and Medicare Part A and Part B together shall be of comparable actuarial value to those under the retiree’s existing coverage, but a retiree or spouse who has a dependent who is not enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in Medicare Part A at no cost shall not be required to transfer to a Medicare health plan if a transfer requires the retiree or spouse to continue the existing family coverage for the dependent in a plan other than a Medicare health plan offered by the governmental unit. In the event of transfer to Medicare, the political subdivision shall pay any Medicare Part B premium penalty assessed by the federal government on retirees, spouses and dependents as a result of enrollment in Medicare Part B at the time of transfer into the Medicare health benefits supplement plan. For each subscriber's premium and the political subdivision's share of that premium, the subscriber and the appropriate public authority shall furnish to the commission, in such form and content as the commission shall prescribe, all information the commission deems necessary to maintain subscribers' and covered dependents' health insurance coverage. The appropriate public authority of the political subdivision shall perform such administrative functions and process such information as the commission deems necessary to maintain those subscribers' health insurance coverage including, but not limited to, family and personnel status changes and shall report all changes to the commission. In the event that a political subdivision transfers subscribers to the commission under this section, subscribers may be withdrawn from commission coverage at 3 or 6 year intervals from the date of transfer of subscribers to the commission, subject to terms governing the withdrawal interval and withdrawal procedures in a written agreement between the appropriate public authority and the collective bargaining units under this chapter and chapter 150E.

The appropriate public authority shall decide and provide notice to the commission of any withdrawal by October 1 of the year prior to the effective date of withdrawal. All withdrawals shall be effective on July 1 following the political subdivision's notice to the commission. Except as otherwise provided in a written agreement between the appropriate public authority and the public employee committee, withdrawal from commission coverage shall revoke acceptance of this section and any written agreements related to the implementation of this section as of the effective date of withdrawal.

The political subdivision shall abide by all commission requirements for effectuating such withdrawal, including the notice requirements in this subsection. In the event a political subdivision withdraws from commission coverage under this section, such withdrawal shall be binding on all subscribers, including those subscribers who, prior to the transfer to the commission, received coverage from the commission under sections 10B and 12 of chapter 32A and, after withdrawal from the commission, those subscribers who received coverage from the commission under said sections 10B and 12 of said chapter 32A shall not pay more than 25 per cent of the cost of their health insurance premiums. In the event of withdrawal from the commission, the political subdivision and public employee unions shall return to governance of negotiations of health insurance under chapter 150E and this chapter.

(e) To the extent authorized under chapter 32A, the commission shall provide group coverage of subscribers' health claims incurred after transfer to the commission. The claim experience of those subscribers shall be maintained by the commission in a single pool and combined with the claim experience of all covered state employees and retirees and their covered dependents, including those subscribers who previously received coverage under sections 10B and 12 of chapter 32A.

A political subdivision that self-insures its group health insurance plan under section 3A and has a deficit in its claims trust fund at the time of transferring its subscribers to the commission and the deficit is attributable to a failure to accrue claims which had been incurred but not paid may capitalize the deficit and amortize the amount over 10 fiscal years in 10 equal amounts or on a schedule providing for a more rapid amortization. Except as otherwise provided in this section, subscribers eligible for health insurance coverage under this section shall be subject to all of the commission regulations, terms, conditions, schedule of benefits and health insurance carriers as employees and dependents. The commission shall, exclusively and not subject to collective bargaining under chapter 150E, determine all matters relating to subscribers' group health insurance rights, responsibilities, costs and payments, including, but not limited to, the manner and method of payment, schedule of benefits, eligibility requirements and choice of health insurance carriers, but shall not determine contribution ratios and obligations. The commission may issue rules and regulations consistent with this section and shall provide public notice of any proposed rules and regulations; provided, however, that if an interested party requests the opportunity to comment, such party shall be given an opportunity to review those rules and regulations and comment, in writing, and at a public hearing; provided, further that for the purposes of this section the commission shall not be subject to chapter 30A.The commission shall negotiate and purchase health insurance coverage for subscribers transferred under this section and shall promulgate regulations, policies and procedures for coverage of the transferred subscribers. The schedule of benefits available to transferred subscribers shall be determined by the commission under chapter 32A. The commission shall offer those subscribers the same choice as to health insurance carriers and benefits as those provided to state employees and retirees. The political subdivision's contribution to the cost of health insurance coverage for transferred subscribers shall be as determined under this section, and shall not be subject to the provisions on contributions in said chapter 32A; provided, however, that the percentage contributed by retirees, surviving spouses and their dependents shall be no more than the average percentage contributed by other subscribers to the most expensive and least expensive non-Medicare plans offered by the commission. Any change to the premium contribution ratios shall become effective on July 1 of each year, with notice to the commission of such change not later than January 15 of the same year.

A political subdivision that transfers subscribers to the commission shall pay the commission for all costs of its subscribers' coverage, including administrative expenses and the governmental unit's cost of subscribers' premium. The commission shall determine on a periodic basis the amount of premium which the political subdivision shall pay to the commission. If the political subdivision unit fails to pay all or a portion of these costs according to the timetable determined by the commission, the commission may inform the state treasurer who shall issue a warrant in the manner provided by section 20 of chapter 59 requiring the respective political subdivision to pay into the treasury of the commonwealth as prescribed by the commission the amount of the premium and administrative expenses attributable to the political subdivision. The state treasurer shall recoup any past due costs from the political subdivision's cherry sheet under section 20A of chapter 58 and transfer that money to the commission. If a governmental unit fails to pay to the commission the costs of coverage for more than 90 days and the cherry sheet provides an inadequate source of payment, the commission may, at its discretion, cancel the coverage of subscribers of the political subdivision. If the cancellation of coverage is for nonpayment, the political subdivision shall provide all subscribers health insurance coverage under plans which are the actuarial equivalent of plans offered by the commission in the preceding year until there is an agreement with the public employee committee providing for replacement coverage.

The commission may charge the political subdivision an administrative fee, which shall not be more than 1 per cent of the cost of total premiums for the political subdivision, to be determined by the commission which shall be considered as part of the cost of coverage to determine the contributions of the political subdivision and its employees to the cost of health insurance coverage by the commission.

(f) If there is a withdrawal from the commission under this section, all retirees, their spouses and dependents insured or eligible to be insured by the political subdivision, if enrolled in Medicare Part A at no cost to the retiree, spouse or dependents, shall be required to be insured by a Medicare extension plan offered by the political subdivision under section 11C or section 16. A retiree shall provide the political subdivision, in such form as the political subdivision shall prescribe, such information as is necessary to transfer to a Medicare extension plan. If a retiree does not submit the information required, the retiree shall no longer be eligible for the retiree’s existing health insurance coverage. The political subdivision may from time to time request from a retiree, a retiree's spouse and dependents, proof certified by the federal government of the retiree’s eligibility or ineligibility for Medicare Part A and Part B coverage. The political subdivision shall pay the Medicare Part B premium penalty assessed by the federal government on those retirees, spouses and dependents as a result of enrollment in Medicare part B at the time of transfer into the Medicare health benefits supplement plan.

Section 24. Notwithstanding any other section this chapter, the appropriate public authority of a political subdivision which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers by acceptance of section 22 or section 23 shall provide health care flexible spending accounts to allow certain subscribers, as determined by the appropriate public authority, to set aside a portion of earnings to pay for qualified expenses. Qualified medical expenses may include, but shall not be limited to, out-of-pocket costs such as inpatient and outpatient co-payments, calendar year deductibles, office visit co-payments and prescription drug co-payments.

Section 25. Notwithstanding any other general law or regulations to the contrary, the appropriate public authority of a political subdivision which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers under this chapter or transfer its subscribers to the commission under this chapter may provide health reimbursement arrangements to reimburse subscribers for qualified medical expenses. Qualified medical expenses may include, but shall not be limited to, out-of-pocket costs such as inpatient and outpatient co-payments, calendar year deductibles, office visit co-payments and prescription drug co-payments.

Section 26. An appropriate public authority of a political subdivision which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers under this chapter shall conduct an enrollment audit not less than once every 2 years. The audit shall be completed in order to ensure that members are appropriately eligible for coverage.

Section 27. An insurance carrier, third party purchasing group or administrator or the commission in the case of a governmental unit, which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers by acceptance of sections 19 or 23, shall, upon written request, provide the governmental unit or public employee committee with its historical claims data within 45 days of such request; provided, that all personally identifying information within such claims shall be redacted and released in a form and manner compliant with all applicable state and federal privacy statutes and regulations including, but not limited to, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

Section 28. Each fiscal year, the commission shall prepare and place on its website a report delineating in dollar amounts the median co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments features offered by the commission in non-medicare plans under section 4 of chapter 32A and median co-payments, deductibles and tiered provider network co-payments offered by the commission in medicare-extension plans under section 10C and section 14 of chapter 32A.

Section 29. Any governmental unit which has undertaken to provide health insurance coverage to its subscribers through a joint purchase agreement under section 12, and seeking to make changes to health insurance benefits under section 22, shall, in first proposing changes to the public employee committee under subsection (b) of section 21, ensure that the proposed changes are in accordance with any standards or regulations set by the board of the joint purchase group.

Section 30. Nothing in section 21, 22, or 23 shall be construed to prevent 2 or more governmental units under a joint purchase or trust agreement from jointly negotiating and purchasing coverage as authorized in section 12.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-66-R1

Redraft LOC 66

Audit of 40B Projects

Messrs. Hedlund, Ross, Tarr and Knapik moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section xx the following new section:

SECTION X. The inspector general in consultation with the attorney general may enter into a contract with a third party for the purposes of auditing all affordable housing projects’ cost certifications submitted after January 1, 2004 that were built through the comprehensive permit process as outlined in sections 20 to 23, inclusive, of chapter 40B of the General Laws and received a determination of project eligibility after July 30, 2002. The third party shall be hired through a competitive bidding process and be a certified public accountant licensed and in good standing with the commonwealth and meet minimum professional qualifications as determined by the inspector general.

All audits performed through this section shall be conducted in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants auditing standards; provided, however, in the event of any conflict between the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants standards and housing policy guidance or regulation issued by the department of housing and community development or any subsidizing agency on or after November 30, 2006 such policy guidance or regulation shall control. The audits performed under this section may include, but not be limited to, a review of the submitted cost certification, agreements between the developer and the municipality,, purchase and sales agreements, any and all documentation relating to the real estate appraisal of the relevant property or properties in accordance with the applicable rules that were in place at the time that the cost certification occurred, all reported expenses and revenues, and all public documentation relating to the purchase, sale or lease of all constructed units.

At the request of the third party, the inspector general may summons the production of all records, reports, audits, reviews, papers, books, documents, recommendations, correspondence and any other data and material relevant to any matter under audit or investigation, in accordance with section 9 of chapter 12A of the General Laws.

The findings of every audit, including any evidence of illegal or fraudulent activities, or cases where the actual realized profit of an individual project exceeds 20 per cent, shall be presented immediately upon completion to the inspector general, the attorney general and the department of housing and community development for review. The inspector general may take whatever further action deemed necessary, in accordance with section 10 of said chapter 12A.

It shall be the responsibility of the attorney general to recover all monies owed to the host communities. The third party hired to conduct the initial audit may receive a pre-determined percentage of all recovered monies, not to exceed 5 per cent, with the balance being returned to the host community.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-67

LOC 67

CPA Field Rehabilitation

Messrs. Hedlund, Knapik, Ross and Tarr moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section xx the following new section:

SECTION XX. Section 2 of chapter 44B, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by removing the definition of "Rehabilitation" and "Preservation" and "Historic Resources" and inserting the following paragraphs:

"Rehabilitation," capital improvements or the making of extraordinary repairs to historic resources, open spaces, lands for recreational use and community housing, for the purpose of making such historic resources, open spaces, lands for recreational use and community housing functional for their intended use, including but not limited to improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal, state or local building or access codes. With respect to historic resources, rehabilitation shall comply with the Standards for Rehabilitation stated in the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties codified in 36 C.F.R. Part 68. With respect to land for recreational use, rehabilitation shall include the replacement of playground equipment and other capital improvements to the land or the facilities thereon which make the land or the related facilities more functional for the related recreational use.

"Preservation," protection of personal or real property from injury, harm or destruction.

"Historic Resources," a building, structure, vessel, real property, document or artifact that is listed on the state register of historic places or has been determined by the local historic preservation commission to be significant in the history, archaeology, architecture or culture of a city or town.

"Support of Community housing", shall include, but not be limited to, programs that provide grants, loans, rental assistance, security deposits, interest-rate write downs or other forms of assistance directly to individuals and families who are eligible for community housing, or to housing, for the purpose of making housing affordable.

"Maintenance", incidental repairs which neither materially add to the value of the property nor appreciably prolong the property's life, but keeps the property in a condition of fitness, efficiency, and/or readiness.

"Capital Improvement", reconstruction or alteration to, or of, real property that: (1) materially adds to the value of the real property, or appreciably prolongs the useful life of the real property; (2) becomes part of the real property or is permanently affixed to the real property so that removal would cause material damage to the property or article itself; and (3) is intended to become a permanent installation or is intended to remain there for an indefinite period of time.

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-69

LOC 69

Chapter 70 Foundation Budget

Ms. Clark and Mr. McGee moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section __, the following new Section:-

SECTION __. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary in each fiscal year beginning after January 1, 2012 the total amounts to be distributed and paid to each city and town through chapter 70 education aid shall be at a minimum 17.5 percent of their Foundation Budget.”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-70-R1

Redraft LOC 70

Municipal Health Care Plan Options

Mr. Tolman moved that the proposed new text be amended <w:p><w:r><w:t xml:space="preserve">in Section 51 by inserting at the end the following new text:-

"Section XX. The town administrator, town manager or mayor of a municipality that elects to change health insurance benefits under sections 22 or 23 shall have the same health insurance options as all unionized municipal employees in the municipality that employs them.

Section XX. The health insurance premium split of a town administrator, town manager or mayor in a municipality that elects to change health insurance benefits under section 22 or 23 shall have the same premium split as all unionized municipal employees in the municipality that employs them."

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-71

LOC 71

Webster Armory Transfer - Technical Correction

Mr. Richard T. Moore moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section X, the following new Section:--

SECTION X. Chapter 158 of the Acts of 2004 is hereby amended by striking, in section 1, the following:-- “as a community youth facility”

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-72

LOC 72

Charter School Funding

Ms. Clark and Mr. DiDomenico moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting, after Section __, the following new Section:-

Section __.

"SECTION __. Section 89(ff) of Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the first sentence of the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:

In calculating the per pupil foundation budget component, the department shall calculate a foundation budget for the students from each sending district attending the charter school in the previous fiscal year, pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of Chapter 70; provided, that the department shall not include in said calculation the assumed tuition-out special education enrollment, nor any amounts generated by said assumed enrollment, as defined by said section 2; provided further, that the calculation for assumed in-school special education enrollment pursuant to said section 2 shall reflect the individual student full-time equivalent enrollment and only the actual amounts generated by said enrollment in the previous fiscal year."

Budget Amendment ID: FY2012-S3-75

LOC 75

Target Aid

Mr. McGee moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting in Section 3 after the second paragraph (as printed) the following: